Ring for owners - wondering if its worth the effort

PaddyMonty

PaddyMonty

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Ooops, Title should say RIDING for owners but it wont let me edit.

Sitting here at my desk contemplating the loss of yet another ride I do start to wonder if its all worth it.
Riding other folks horses is really my only option due to finances and already supporting two horses in the family (neither suitable for me). :(
Over the last 10 years I have lost rides due to.....

Jealous husbands (I'm male and straight), this has happened twice

Spent months schooling horses only for owner to decide horse is now very sellable and does so. Happened several times.

Taken on horses with issues only for owner to take over ride once horse working nicely. 3 times

Having produced a nice lower level comp horse ride is then given to friend of owner who wasn't capable of producing horse in the first place.

Said No to owner when asked to do something I felt was not in the interests of the horse only for owner to throw toys out of pram big time. Lost best horse this way.

Walked away from a few due to..
Owner having completely batty ideas about horses.
Wanting me to produce a decent comp horse but only allowing me access to horse once a week or less.
Putting so many restrictions on what I can and cant do with horse it effectively ties my hands behind my back.

Wouldn't mind so much if all I did was turned up, rode horse and left but almost without exception I end up doing yard duties, looking after horses when owner goes on holiday. Give free instruction to owner (and often siblings) several times a week and generally do anything I can to help out.

Dont even want much, just a horse I can work with and an owner I can trust not to use me as a free schooling service. Lack of jealous husband would also be a bonus.

Sorry, whinge over, just feeling sorry for myself. :o
 
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Hi.

PM me with details of what you are looking for. My friend has a couple of horses that she would like a sharer for depending on what you are looking for.
 
perhaps you need to pretend you're gay;) it does seem to be very one sided if you're only riding or sharing, even loaning runs the same kind of risk and that is why i won't!!
 
Charge them

What you are doing is bringing horses on for free and being taken advantage of.

I have paid people to do what you are doing and no yard duties.

The same things will probably happen but the money would pay for one of your own :D :D
 
rockysmum said:
Charge them

What you are doing is bringing horses on for free and being taken advantage of.
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That would break my golden rule - no money changes hands either way.
I do this for fun. Horses are a passion and I'm in the fortunate position to have developed enough experience for people to want me to work their horses.

The two real issues I have is 1) I tend to form a close bond with horses I'm riding regularly which makes losing them difficult. 2)having to go through the awkward stage of getting to know a new owner and yard (if horse on livery), working out all their little foibles etc and starting again with unknown horse(s) but guess that just goes with the territory.
 
Where are you located? Friend has lovely mannered 7 yr old she wants working but she lacks time (loaner let her down).
 
PaddyMonty said:
Thought of that but a tad difficult when I have a wife and two teenage kids. :p
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lol i know a few gay men with kids, none with a wife though, you'll just have to say it's to keep up appearances and you'd be very grateful if they could keep your secret;) of course this approach may not be advisable if it's a male owner:eek:
 
I'm no expert on this but don't think the wife& kids are a bar to pretending you're gay...just say you met Carl Hester a few times and,such was his brilliance, you were 'turned'.... ;) (Wife might not be too impressed with this plan...a tad embarrassing for her and perhaps might involve more than a little embarrassment for you in keeping up the pretence...;) ) I reckon there's a more simple answer than a sexual preference change...I mean,think of all the extra hours you'd have to spend on personal grooming...you'd never have time to ride!
 
:(

I couldn't do it. It sounds like you are good enough to expect payment for what you are doing. Could one of your horses be sold and replaced by one that will suit both whoever else its for and yourself? How are yours kept, maybe there's a cheaper situation you could move to to enable you to take on another horse?
 
Wife is dressage rider so would probably understand :p
Funny how people seem to be picking up on the single reason that has probably caused me the least issue. :eek:
 
Flame - both horses on DIY and are dressage horses. One very established and the other young and work in progress. Wife is a bit to precious about her horses to let them go Sj/Xc on a regular basis. :rolleyes:
I have in the past schooled horses for payment but really didn't like it. Felt more like a job than pleasure.
 
Whereabouts are you? I've got a gorgeous youngster with a real talent for jumping who would love to go out and about with someone like you! I can't seem to find a rider for her despite her being on full livery and definitely no interference from me.

I'd love to find someone who had the time to work with her and enjoy doing it. :)
 
Flame - because her established horse is now 20 so coming to end of its career, hence the youngster. Youngster is also partly daughters horse. I have always supported my wifes ambition where horses are concerned and will continue to do so.
I can get my horse fix riding peoples horses for them, just sometimes it gets a bit depressing.
 
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Hmm. Bit too far to Sputh Yorkshire methinks:-/ Never mind. Hope somebody on here a bit nearer to you steps up with a good opportunity for you:)
 
Shame here too, my girl would've loved a new friend to jump with! Oh well, back to the drawing board.

PM would you not be better off taking in a loan horse if owners keep messing you about this way? Or maybe even buy your own but get a sharer in to pay towards keep? Sorry, can't think of anything else to suggest.
 
Sounds like you've been doing too good a job!

Sadly, I think it's inevitable that people will see £££ once you've put the leg work in, and that rides will get sold from under you. No matter how honourable their intentions were to begin with.

I don't see how charging for your services would help either. Just sounds to me like you need to find a very special kind of owner (hen's teeth, I know!). Could try approaching local comp yards maybe, or putting the word out when you're out supporting your wife, to try & find someone local & on the same page as you?
 
:) What about having a horse from one of the rescue centre's, and give that another chance to do things, you have the knowledge as you say, to school and improve a horse, don't let people use you to get their horses going nicely then either take them back or sell them, people seem to only want the perfect horses these days, they just are not willing to put the work in, its far more rewarding though to get something that needs work etc, and get it going well, I wish you luck and hope you can find something out there
 
What if you did a bit of buying and selling? If you're good enough to increase owners horse's value then why not do it for yourself? Buy a horse, jump it for a season, sell it on. It probably couldn't cover all your costs but it could bring them down a lot, of course unless the horse went lame. When the twenty year old retires, could that do grass livery?
 
Damn damn damn, just sold a very talented youngster due to needing someone like yourself. Couldn't find the right person even with payment. Really didn't want to let him go, and your not that far away. Next one is only a yearling so no need of rider for a long time yet. Damn damn and damn again.
 
If Rushden isn't too far I am looking for a sharer 3 days a week for my sons horse. He rides Sunday as that is his only regular day off, but otherwise we can be v flexible. Don't have a school at the yard but not far from Keysoe for SJ.
 
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